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Background/Objectives: Dyslipidemia is a significant risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), a leading cause of death worldwide. Salvia miltiorrhiza Burge is widely used in East Asia for cardiovascular health, showing potential benefits in lowering cholesterol and reducing inflammation. Methods: This study systematically reviewed and conducted a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to assess the clinical effectiveness of Salvia miltiorrhiza in treating dyslipidemia. Moreover, network pharmacology and molecular docking analyses were performed to explore the mechanisms underlying the effects of Salvia miltiorrhiza. Results: The meta-analysis revealed that when Salvia miltiorrhiza is combined with statin therapy, it significantly enhances lipid profiles, including reductions in total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglycerides and improvements in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), compared to statin therapy alone. The in silico analyses indicated that Salvia miltiorrhiza may influence key biological pathways, such as the PI3K/Akt, JAK/STAT, and HMGCR pathways, which are involved in inflammation, lipid metabolism, and the development of atherosclerosis. Conclusions: Salvia miltiorrhiza shows potential as a complementary therapy for dyslipidemia, offering additional lipid-lowering and anti-inflammatory benefits.

We designed a 20-MV S-band traveling-wave deflecting structure to measure the bunch length of the electron beams for the PAL-XFEL. Since the start of commissioning of all RF systems of the PAL-XFEL on 12 April 2016, two out of three fabricated structures are currently being operated; one each in the hard X-ray and the soft X-ray branches. These deflecting structures were carefully tuned by using a 4-m-long nodal phase scanner in a precisely temperature and humidity controlled cleanroom considering the phase predictions calculated using RF field solvers. We carried out RF conditioning and beam commissioning with highly-stable high-power S-band RF systems and an EPICS-based control system. We briefly present our design of S-band deflecting structure and discuss the test results, including the results of the RF and the beam measurements.

We investigate the radical structure of a fuzzy polynomial ideal induced by a fuzzy ideal of a ring and study its properties. Given a fuzzy ideal β of R and a homomorphism f : R → R ′ , we show that if f x is the induced homomorphism of f , that is, f x ( ∑ i = 0 n a i x i ) = ∑ i = 0 n f ( a i ) x i , then f x - 1 [ ( β ) x ] = ( f - 1 ( β ) ) x .

We give the new formulas counting the total number of all lines, planes and tetrahedrons in then-dimensional Boolean space.

Spatial light modulators are essential optical elements in applications that require the ability to regulate the amplitude, phase and polarization of light, such as digital holography, optical communications and biomedical imaging. With the push towards miniaturization of optical components, static metasurfaces are used as competent alternatives. These evolved to active metasurfaces in which light-wavefront manipulation can be done in a time-dependent fashion. The active metasurfaces reported so far, however, still show incomplete phase modulation (below 360°). Here we present an all-solid-state, electrically tunable and reflective metasurface array that can generate a specific phase or a continuous sweep between 0 and 360° at an estimated rate of 5.4 MHz while independently adjusting the amplitude. The metasurface features 550 individually addressable nanoresonators in a 250 × 250 μm 2 area with no micromechanical elements or liquid crystals. A key feature of our design is the presence of two independent control parameters (top and bottom gate voltages) in each nanoresonator, which are used to adjust the real and imaginary parts of the reflection coefficient independently. To demonstrate this array’s use in light detection and ranging, we performed a three-dimensional depth scan of an emulated street scene that consisted of a model car and a human figure up to a distance of 4.7 m. By controlling two voltage gates separately from one another, a spatial light modulator has been made that can continuously vary the phase of 360 degrees while independently adjusting the amplitude.

Microplastic pollution causes a major concern in the marine environment due to their worldwide distribution, persistence, and adverse effects of these pollutants in the marine ecosystem. Despite its global presence, there is still a lack of information on the effect of microplastics on marine organisms at the molecular level. Herein we demonstrated ingestion and egestion of nano- (0.05 μm) and micro-sized (0.5 and 6 μm) polystyrene microbeads in the marine copepod Paracyclopina nana , and examined molecular responses to exposure to microbeads with in vivo endpoints such as growth rate and fecundity. Also, we proposed an adverse outcome pathway for microplastic exposure that covers molecular and individual levels. This study provides the first insight into the mode of action in terms of microplastic-induced oxidative stress and related signaling pathways in P. nana .

Chitin is a natural polysaccharide of major importance. This biopolymer is synthesized by an enormous number of living organisms; considering the amount of chitin produced annually in the world, it is the most abundant polymer after cellulose. The most important derivative of chitin is chitosan, obtained by partial deacetylation of chitin under alkaline conditions or by enzymatic hydrolysis. Chitin and chitosan are known to have important functional activities but poor solubility makes them difficult to use in food and biomedicinal applications. Chitooligosaccharides (COS) are the degraded products of chitosan or chitin prepared by enzymatic or chemical hydrolysis of chitosan. The greater solubility and low viscosity of COS have attracted the interest of many researchers to utilize COS and their derivatives for various biomedical applications. In light of the recent interest in the biomedical applications of chitin, chitosan, and their derivatives, this review focuses on the preparation and biological activities of chitin, chitosan, COS, and their derivatives.

Numerous candidates attempting to replace Si-based flash memory have failed for a variety of reasons over the years. Oxide-based resistance memory and the related memristor have succeeded in surpassing the specifications for a number of device requirements. However, a material or device structure that satisfies high-density, switching-speed, endurance, retention and most importantly power-consumption criteria has yet to be announced. In this work we demonstrate a TaO x -based asymmetric passive switching device with which we were able to localize resistance switching and satisfy all aforementioned requirements. In particular, the reduction of switching current drastically reduces power consumption and results in extreme cycling endurances of over 10 12 . Along with the 10 ns switching times, this allows for possible applications to the working-memory space as well. Furthermore, by combining two such devices each with an intrinsic Schottky barrier we eliminate any need for a discrete transistor or diode in solving issues of stray leakage current paths in high-density crossbar arrays. Resistive switching is a promising technology to replace current non-volatile memory technologies such as flash. The demonstration of a fast, stable and highly scalable resistive-switching memory device represents a significant advance towards the practical implementation of this technology.

Yoon Shin Cho and colleagues report a genome-wide association study for nine metabolic traits in east Asians. They identify ten new loci that are associated with these traits. To identify the genetic bases for nine metabolic traits, we conducted a meta-analysis combining Korean genome-wide association results from the KARE project ( n = 8,842) and the HEXA shared control study ( n = 3,703). We verified the associations of the loci selected from the discovery meta-analysis in the replication stage (30,395 individuals from the BioBank Japan genome-wide association study and individuals comprising the Health2 and Shanghai Jiao Tong University Diabetes cohorts). We identified ten genome-wide significant signals newly associated with traits from an overall meta-analysis. The most compelling associations involved 12q24.11 (near MYL2 ) and 12q24.13 (in C12orf51 ) for high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, 2p21 (near SIX2-SIX3 ) for fasting plasma glucose, 19q13.33 (in RPS11 ) and 6q22.33 (in RSPO3 ) for renal traits, and 12q24.11 (near MYL2 ), 12q24.13 (in C12orf51 and near OAS1 ), 4q31.22 (in ZNF827 ) and 7q11.23 (near TBL2-BCL7B ) for hepatic traits. These findings highlight previously unknown biological pathways for metabolic traits investigated in this study.

Background: Krill (Euphausia superba) represent the largest animal biomass on earth, and are a rich source of high-quality protein with essential amino acids. Krill-derived peptides are renowned for their antioxidant activities. Hence, these peptides may have protective effects against oxidative stress. Alcoholic liver disease is a prevalent cause of death worldwide. The present study explores the hepatoprotective effects of krill peptide hydrolysate fractions against ethanol-induced liver damage in BALB/c mice. Methods: Hydrolysis was carried out by mimicking the gastrointestinal digestion environment and the filtrate was fractionated based on molecular weight (<1 kDa, 1–3 kDa, and >3 kDa). The 1–3 kDa fraction (KPF), which indicated the highest antioxidant effect, was further investigated for its effect on weight and survival rate increase in mice and its influence on serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase, glutamic pyruvic transaminase, and liver cholesterol levels. Moreover, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) levels were measured, followed by Nrf2 and HO-1 expression. Histopathology studies were conducted to assess hepatic tissue damage. Results: KPF enhanced the weight and survival rate of mice while reducing serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase, glutamic pyruvic transaminase, and liver cholesterol levels. Moreover, KPF upregulated SOD, CAT, and GPx in liver tissues, while downregulating tumor necrosis factor α and interleukin-6 mRNA expression. KPF further increased Nrf2 and HO-1 expression and suppressed ethanol-induced apoptotic proteins in the liver. Histopathology of KPF-treated mice showed less hepatic tissue damage compared to ethanol-treated mice. Conclusions: Hydrolysates and bioactive peptides prepared from krill can be employed as functional foods to enhance liver function and health. Further investigations of KPF could lead to the development of functional foods.